Indians send Francisco Lindor to Triple-A

The Indians announced a number of roster moves* this morning, including top prospect Francisco Lindor heading back to Triple-A for the start of the 2014 season. This move comes as no surprised to any fan who has been paying attention and/or understands MLB's service time rules.

Even if Lindor were dominating, and clearly better than any other option in the organization (like Chicago's Kris Bryant, for example), he'd have been sent to Columbus for "a little more season" or some such reason, because by keeping him off the 25-man roster for even two full weeks, the team would gain an additional year of control over him (meaning he couldn't become a free agent until a full year later).

In Lindor's case, there's also the matter of Jose Ramirez, another young, talented shortstop who has already had some success with the Tribe, earning himself another look for at least the first few weeks of 2015. If Ramirez plays well and the rest of the infield stays healthy, Lindor might not be up for months. If he's playing especially well in Triple-A, things could get a little awkward, but most likely things will find a way of working themselves out.

Lindor posted a .902 OPS in his 16 spring training appearances. That's obviously a very small sample, and spring stats have been shown to have little correlation to regular season numbers, but it was fun to see him do well at the plate.

Other players sent to minor league camp this morning: Audy Ciriaco Destin Hood, Dustin Molleken, Adam Moore, Bryan Price, Mike Roth, and C.C. Lee. Of that group, only Lee entered camp with any sort of real chance of making the team. I wrote that yesterday's poor outing likely sealed his Triple-A fate, and it turns out I was right, which does happen from time to time.